White Night II
by Sora Moto
Summary: Ok this is no longer the active story, for the active one please see White Night in the Bleach Ranma Crossovers
1. Chapter 1

Hey I got a new fic for you all. Hope you enjoy and also please feel free to read my other fics which can be found by going to my page... That sounds weird. Anyway any questions you may have feel free to ask in a review. Enjoy.

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It's a new day in Nerima and everything is as it usually is: peaceful, quiet and...

"Ranma!" The sound of flesh meeting flesh is followed by a splash as Ranma finds himself in the pond on the Tendo property.

"Nice shot Sis." Nabiki is already snapping pictures of the wet Ranma-chan.

"Damn it Akane. Why'd ya have to go an' hit me like that?" The busty red head stands up and jumps from the pond scowling. "I didn't do anything."

Akane glares at him before huffing and heading for the door. "You know what you did." And with that she leaves.

Confused and upset Ranma heads into the kitchen to transform back before school and then runs off after his angry fiance.

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At school the two are met with a strange sight, even if this is Nerima.

There in the school yard was a new girl and laid out at her feet was Kuno. This wasn't the only thing that caught their attention though. The girl's outfit was not what you would see on any other girl at Furinkan. They could see that it was based on the school uniform, but with sever alterations. Firs the skirt was shortened severely, coming only to the mid thigh. The dress shirt that was normally worn under the jumper was being worn over it and the sleeves had been rolled up past her elbows, she had also left the top couple buttons undone. She wore black gloves that reached well up her arms, coming just short of her sleeves, and fastened around only her middle finger. A loose, bulky belt was worn around her waist and on her feet were chunky boots. She also wore socks that came up past her knees and a bear clip in her pale blond hair that held some of the shoulder length tresses up in a sloppy side pony tail. The girl also had a dark tan and striking blue eyes that seemed to look right through to the soul of anyone that she laid eyes on.

"Damn pervert should have kept his hands to himself." With a scowl on her face she heads into the school building, leaving those that had seen her take down the kendoist or walked in after his defeat to stare after her in shock.

"Oh, so that's the new student I heard about." Nabiki steps over to Kuno and kneels down beside him. "She's been kicked out of nearly every school in Tokyo."

Ranma and Akane watch Nabiki as she pokes Kuno and stands up.

"Why'd she get kicked out?"

"For fighting, skipping classes, not wearing the proper uniform. Overall just being a delinquent."

"So she'll fit in just fine here, maybe she can be another one of Ranma's fiances." With that Akane heads inside just as the bell rings.

Ranma and Naiki rush to get inside before they can be counted tardy.

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Ranma reaches his class and enters to see the new girl standing in the front of the class, one hand on her hip the other holding her bag over her shoulder.

Akane notices him staring and throws her eraser at his head, "Quit staring you pervert."

"Hey!" Rubbing his head, "I wasn't staring." He takes his seat before the teacher enters.

Hinako enters the room and takes in the new student. She had been warned that this newest student was a grade a delinquent but it wasn't enough to prepare her for the punk look she was wearing in place of her school uniform. "Miss Shihoin, I expect that in the future you will dress in the proper uniform."

The new girl flips a few loose strands of hair over her shoulder and gives the youthful teacher a look of disdain, "Whatever, I ain't changing the way I dress for you or anyone, Chibi-sensei." Seeing the teacher become red-faced in anger from the insult she continues, "Are you going to introduce me so I can take my seat or not?"

Grinding her teeth, Hinako stomps up o the podium and turns to the class. "Class we have a new student today. This is Shihoin Kanna. Please take your seat in front of Ranma." She sharply points to the vacant seat in front of Ranma.

Without a word she takes her seat and sits down before swinging her legs up onto the desk and leaning back. The entire class turning and staring at her. "What the hell's your problem?" She sends a glare at each of those staring and they all quickly turn back towards the front of the room.

Still upset by the delinquent behavior of her new student Hinako begins the lesson. About halfway through class though she looks back at the new student to find her sleeping. "Miss Shihoin." No response from the sleeping student. "Miss Shihoin!" Eyebrow now twitching, she throws a chalkboard eraser at the girl's head hoping to entice a battle aura that she could drain.

The entire class is surprised when the projectile is calmly snatched from the air by the target of said projectile. "Is there a reason you threw that at me Chibi-sensei?" She opens her eyes and glares coldly at Hinako, a shiver runs up the spine of the diminutive teacher.

"Uh, please translate the second paragraph of page 73 from the textbook."

With a sigh she reaches behind her and steals Ranma's textbook and opens it to the correct page and begins to read the paragraph in English. Jaws all around the classroom drop as she reads the paragraph without any pauses and flawlessly. Finishing she drops the book back onto Ranma's desk. She hadn't moved from her reclined position except to grab the book and return it. "Are you done pestering me?"

Angered to the point of steam coming out of her ears the age challenged teacher storms out of the classroom.

"I guess class is over then." Grabbing her bag Kanna heads for the door and leaves the room.

"Should someone stop her or something?"

Silence for a moment, "Do you want to die? She just stared down Hinako-sensei. And didn't get drained."

The class nods in agreement before turning to one another to chat since the class had seemingly been cancelled.

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Up on the roof of the school the new girl was leaning against the fence and staring up at the sky a look of longing on her face. "This is the last school. After I get kicked out of here they'll have to send me there."

A rumble from below draws her attention to the schoolyard where a large hole has been made in the wall in front of the school.

"Ranma Saotome! Come out here and fight me you coward." A boy wearing road worn clothes and a yellow bandanna stands amongst the rubble of the wall and settling dust.

From a second floor window she sees the boy that was sitting behind her in class, "I think his name was Ranma..."

Ranma lands smoothly a short distance from the other boy in the yard, "What ya wantin' this time Ryoga?"

"Ranma because of you I've seen Hell!" Ryoga lunges at Ranma, fist first.

"Ah, come on. Can't ya at least tell me what I did this time ta make your life miserable." Ranma fights back, seemingly bored with the whole thing.

Kanna watches the fight and ensuing property damage, anger and surprise evident on her face. The reaction of the other students what really made her mad. "I guess it's harder to get kicked out of this school than I anticipated." Her attention is suddenly drawn away from the fight below as she senses a presence not to far away. "Damn." With one last look below she bounds off the roof and disappears as an angry, hungry howl is carried through the school.

Ranma and Ryoga pause in their fight at the sound but at seeing that no one else heard it they continue their fight.

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That night in a small traditional japanese home in the Nerima district Kanna is lying in the bath, her head pillowed on her arms. "That hollow was difficult to fight off. It was stronger than I was expecting." Closing her eyes and tilting her head onto its side she continues, "It couldn't have been attracted by those boys fighting could it have been?" Thinking about it for a moment she stands up and begins to get out of the tub, light scratches can be seen on her body from her fight with the hollow earlier that day. "I'll se up a barrier anyway. No point in attracting unnecessary attention."

Drying off and heading into her room she turns off the light and gets into bed.

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The following morning Kanna arrives early and goes around the entire school setting up the points for the barrier before activating it just as the first students arrive at the front gate. "That should prevent hollows from being attracted by things on campus." Heading into the school she goes to her classroom and gets settled into her seat for another boring day of useless classes.

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The next several days past without incident beyond the usual disturbances in Nerima. The only notable difference was how Kanna seemed to have caught Ranma's eye. She just wasn't like any of the other girls he knew and the few times they had interacted she hadn't treated him any different than the other people she met at school. Even when he had knocked her from a tree after being thrown by Ryoga during one of their fights, she had gone after Ryoga, slapping him and yelling at him to watch where he fought people.

She was an enigma to Ranma. She was strong and independent and didn't take shit from anyone, even teachers. Then there was how she seemed to purposefully try to piss off the teachers. The only reason she hadn't been expelled by this point was that despite all her rebellious and delinquent behavior her grades scored her top marks. Ranma couldn't figure her out, which is why he was now approaching Nabiki.

"Hey, Nabiki."

The school's most informed student looked up from her calculator to see her biggest cash cow and future brother-in-law. "Something I can help you with Ranma?"

Ranma rubs the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah I was wondering if you knew why Kanna is the way she is. I mean I know she's smart but she seems to be trying to get kicked out."

Nabiki blinks and sets down her calculator. Not having any classes with the girl in question Nabiki knows that she wouldn't have been able to see the tells that the girl wasn't actually being a punk or delinquent, but she had seen the girl's grades and had been surprised at first. That Ranma had noticed something off about the newest student in Furinkan brought the whole problem to the forefront of her mind. "I haven't really tried looking into her history if that's what you're asking about Ranma, but for a fee I could definitely see what I can find out for you."

Ranma hesitates for a moment before pulling out a wad of cash and holding it out to Nabiki. "This is all I can give you right now, if you want more you'll have to wait till I can get some more."

Nabiki takes the money and counts it quickly before putting it into her pocket. "This should be enough, I'll see what I can find out."

"Thanks Nabiki."

The two hear shouting and Ranma groans as Nabiki walks off, "Looks like you're up Ranma. Good luck."

Ranma waves and runs off to deal with whichever rival/fiance was causing the mayhem.

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Kanna had taken to lounging on the roof after the incident of Ranma plowing into her and knocking her from the tree. Leaning back against the fence she gazes up towards the sky. It had been two weeks since she transferred here and she was surprised that she hadn't been expelled yet, "Then again look at the other students. Damn maybe I should start failing tests." While she contemplates the situation she hears the door to the roof open and close and glances over.

Ranma was trying to escape the fiance brigade during the lunch break and headed for the roof, being careful to not be followed. Reaching the roof he keeps an eye on the stairwell as he closes the door. It wasn't until he turned around that he realized he wasn't alone.

"Gah!"

Arching an eyebrow at his reaction Kanna simply stands up and walks over to him. "What was the scream for? I thought you were this school's tough guy." With a condescending look on her face she heads for the door. "Look if you're going to try hiding up here I'm leaving. You can't help but attract trouble and I don't want to get caught up in it today. Maybe some other day."

Just as she puts her hand on the door knob the distinct sound of a hollow screeching in the area is heard by both on the roof causing Kanna to hesitate at the door long enough for Ranma to notice. "Did you hear that too?"

Surprised Kanna turns to look at Ranma and then sighs. "Yeah, don't try and be a hero though that thing would eat you alive." She opens the door and begins to head into the stairwell.

"You sayin' I can't handle myself." The martial artist makes to follow after the punk girl.

"Yeah." And without another word leaves. A few minutes later Ranma sees her run out through the school gate in the direction of where the sound came from.

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The next day Ranma went to the roof at lunch to see if he could find Kanna there. He wasn't too happy about being told he couldn't fight the day before and wanted to find out why she thought he couldn't handle whatever had made that sound.

Sure enough as soon as he opens the door to the roof he sees her lounging against the fence as she had been the day before when he had come up here. She lets out a sigh and then looks at him with a bored glare.

"If you want to hide from your fan club go somewhere else."

"Hey I don't hide from nobody." Ranma walks over to her and crouches down in front of her.

"Then why the hell did you come up here? This isn't some show you know."

Moving over to sit beside her, "Well I wanted to ask you about that sound yesterday. You told me I couldn't handle it and then ran off to where ever it came from."

"It's nothing you need to worry yourself about." She stands up and heads for the roof door.

Something about the way that she walks concerns Ranma and he gets up placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Hey is something wrong with your leg?"

She turns and brushes Ranma's hand from her shoulder, the wince doesn't go unnoticed by Ranma, "Nothing's wrong, just leave me alone."

Getting a determined look Ranma grabs her shoulder a little more roughly, but not enough to really hurt her and sees her wince again. When she glares at him and removes his hand he sees a small, but getting larger, blood stain on her shirt. "That ain't nothin'. You're bleedin'."

"I said it's nothing so it's nothing. Now leave me alone." She begins to storm off when they hear an explosion, the signature entry of Ryoga Hibiki, followed by a shudder and rippling of the air. "Damn it, that boy is going to make me want to let him get eaten." Kanna doesn't pause as she continues down the stairs while Ryoga bellows for Ranma to show himself.

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Kanna never came back to class after that and when Ranma got back tot he Tendo's, Nabiki pulled him aside to give him what information she could about the new student.

"I found out alot of interesting things about that girl at school Ranma. It seems your right about her trying to get kicked out of school. I couldn't find out why though, but she's currently in foster care."

"huh. Does that mean her parents are dead?"

Nabiki shakes her head, "No, they seem to be alive. They just don't want to take care of her or they can't." Nabiki pulls out a file, "She started acting up when she entered the foster care system. Since then the longest she has ever attended a school was for 3 months. Lately its been about 2 weeks."

Ranma lets out a low whistle, "She's good at getting kicked out isn't she?"

Nodding Nabiki continues, "I also looked into how her behavior is affecting her at Furinkan. It seems our school is perfectly fine with letting her act the delinquent as long as she keeps getting top marks. It's really improving the school's standing among the other schools in the area." Nabiki puts the folder away, "Ranma this girl is a certifiable genius but all she cares about is getting kicked out of every school in Tokyo. The only one left is Karakura High."

Ranma looks towards the ceiling taking this in, "Karakura is a better school than Furinkan though, isn't it? Why not send her there before here. That list you showed me of the other schools she's been sent to were pretty nice, so why not Karakura and then here."

Nabiki blinks at Ranma's observation and goes back through her folder on the new girl. "Hmm, I can't believe I missed that." Nabiki looks up at Ranma and holds out a page from the folder to him, "Her dad apparently lives in Karakura."

"So she's just trying to get into a school near him so she can be with her dad? Why not just tell him she wants to be near him."

Nabiki shakes her head, "I don't know. She has to have told someone that that's what she wants."

The two sit in silence for a while before heading down to dinner. Neither says anything else concerning the new student but both think about what has been discovered.

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In the middle of the night Ranma awakes to the sound of that same screech that he's heard twice before now. This time it was much closer than before and Ranma heads out to the street to see if he can see what's causing it. Just as he is about to open the front door he hears the screech again, but this time it sounds like whatever was making it was dying. He speeds out of the house and into the street. There he sees Kanna, she seems barely able to stand. The sound of dripping water draws his attention to the puddle forming beneath her. Another drip and Ranma realizes that its blood, just in time to catch her as she collapses to the pavement.

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"Pops! Kasumi! Mr. Tendo!" Ranma carries the unconscious girl into the house and heads for the living room where he can lay her down.

Those he called for and those he didn't all rush down the stairs at Ranma's cry and see the trail of blood leading into the living room. Fearing the worst Akane rushes in expecting to see a bloody and beaten Ranma. Her fear and worry quickly turns to anger when she sees him crouching over the unconscious girl on the floor. She promptly punches him out into the pond in the yard as Kasumi takes over care for the injured girl on the floor.

"Father, you should call Doctor Tofu. It looks like she was attacked by some animal."

Genma kneels down beside the girl to inspect her wounds, becoming worrisome at their resemblance to a clawed human hand. "Boy, you weren't responsible for this were you?"

The four still in the living room glance over at the sopping wet red head just making her way into the house. "Why would you even think that? I heard something in the street and went to check it out. I found her about to collapse out there and brought her in. I know you're a heavy sleeper pops but I'm surprised no one else heard that loud screech."

Mr. Tendo comes back into the room after calling the doctor carrying a first aid kit which he hands to Kasumi. "Thank you Father." Everyone sits back as Kasumi begins to tend to the girl's wounds. She pauses at her shoulder, finding the remains of an older bandage and wound just as Kanna begins to stir.

Kanna opens her eyes slowly to a bright light and after blinking away the sleepiness sees the faces of some of her schoolmates and others she doesn't know, "Where..."

"You're in the Tendo's living room. You passed out in the street." She turns to the speaker and sees Ranma.

"Girl, how'd you get those injuries? The boy says he heard some kind of animal in the street just before he got out there and saw you."

"They're nothing." She tries to sit up but winces and falls back onto the floor.

"Doctor Tofu should be here soon." Kasumi smiles down at her as she continues cleaning the blood from Kanna's wounds. "It really would help us if you told us what happened."

Just then they hear a knock at the door and Nabiki gets up to let the doctor in, "Right in here Doc."

Tofu walks over and kneels down beside Kanna, looking over her wounds. Ranma had escorted Kasumi from the room when Nabiki went to answer the door and was just coming back in when Tofu began questioning the girl about her injuries.

"Strange. I've never seen anything like this. They're too large to be from even a lion or a tiger. The only time I saw anything like this was Akane's window after the Pheonix took her. But even those marks weren't this big." He looks up at the patient for an answer.

"It's really not important what caused them. Just bandage me up so I can go home." Blinking Tofu begins bandaging the wounds as Nabiki heads for the phone. "I'll call your parents and let them know where you are so they can give you a ride."

"Don't bother. They left yesterday saying they couldn't take it anymore. Third set this month." Kanna seems to smirk despite the pain of Tofu treating her wounds.

"Do you like driving people away from you?" Ranma looks down at Kanna, disturbed by how she's treating all of this. "What made that screeching sound? I know I heard it regardless of what the rest of you think. And I've heard it before. The other day you said I shouldn't go after whatever it was but you obviously do." He almost seems to glare at her in frustration.

Everyone else stays quiet, not used to Ranma acting this way. "Are you done? What they are doesn't even matter, you shouldn't be able to hear or see them anyway. How you do hear them is a mystery to me?" Kanna pauses before continuing, "Look just leave them to me and keep yourself from getting hurt." She makes as if to roll over and drop the whole thing but stops with a wince when she aggravates one of the fresh injuries.

The following silence is disturbed by another loud screech, heard only by Ranma and Kanna. "Is that thing after you or something?" Ranma stands up but looks around to see everyone staring at him and then looks to Kanna.

"They can't hear it, didn't I just tell you that?" An explosion in the yard as one of the walls is impacted and shattered. Kanna moves to stand up but Tofu holds her down. "Perhaps you should let Ranma deal with whatever it is."

When he looks back up at Ranma he sees the boy staring into the yard where the new hole in the wall is located. Shock, the most evident emotion on his face. "What the hell is that thing? Some kind of demon."

"It's a hollow. Break the mask with one of those energy attacks I've seen you fight with and it will go away." Unable to fight it herself Kanna decides to help Ranma stop the hollow before it can cause anymore damage. She prays that this one is just a normal hollow, instead of one of the more powerful ones that have been more common.

As Ranma engages the hollow the rest of the household stares as Ranma seems to be fighting air, and getting his ass kicked.

"Boy, what's the matter with you? There's nothing out there."

With one last exhausted punch Ranma manages to shatter the mask and the hollow dissolves with a scream. Wobbly from his fight Ranma makes it back into the house and collapses next to Kanna. "Ok, now you have to explain what that thing is. Was it some kind of demon?"

"Yeah, sure some kind of demon." Kanna pauses to think, "It was the soul of someone who died that lost its sense of humanity. The only way it can go on existing is to feed on other human souls. They're called hollows because of the hole in their chest where their chain of fate once existed." She sees Ranma gain a look of disgust and fear at hearing this, "Don't worry you didn't kill it. You purified the soul so it could move on in peace." She knew she was lying but nobody else needed to know that.

"How common are these things?"

Kanna turns to Nabiki, "Depends on the area. Some are very high in spiritual energy and the hollows are attracted as if by bait. Others they completely ignore. Then there are people like Ranma and his friends." She looks back at Ranma, "People that are like delicacies to hollows. As far as Nerima is concerned all the powerful martial artists fighting all the time are attracting them. That Ryoga guy knocking out my barrier at the school isn't helping though." Kanna scowls at that comment.

"So is there anything we can do?"

"Stop fighting so damn much or move. Hollows may be coming for the fighters but they will attack anything with a soul." Kanna gets up from the floor and inspects Tofu's bandaging. "I need to go. Sorry to have bothered you," Looking at Ranma again, "And you. Don't go looking for trouble."

They watch her leave before going back to bed themselves.

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When Kanna gets home she heads for the phone and dials. After a few rings the phone is answered on the other end. "Yeah I know you don't like it when I call you direct."

"Look I don't really care right now. I just want to know what's going on."

"There were two powerful hollows here tonight."

"No I am not alright! I got the crap beat out of me by the first one, Hollow bait took care of the other one."

"Why won't you do anything!"

"Dad!" She slams the phone down and falls to her knees beside its place on the wall, crying. "Damnit Dad, just let me come be with you."

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	2. Chapter 2

Yeah so I know I should be working on finishing some of my other fics but I sorta lost the outlines in the transition to a new computer... So anyway I will be revising my stories and determining which I will continue and which have no future. That's rather depressing so we shall move onto the story.

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Somewhere that is hard to describe as other than dark and creepy two several figures sit shrouded around a long table.

"So we have evidence that there are shinigami in this other district and they are capable of dealing with powerful hollows that would give a shinigami trouble."

"Yes, in the past several weeks we have noticed the increased activity of the shinigami there."

"Those sneaky bastards did they think we wouldn't notice."

The figure at the head of the table leans forward onto his elbows with his hands supporting his chin. "Well then we should go and check it out. Grimmjaw, go with Ulquirra and see what those pesky shinigami are up to." He grins as the two at the table that are Grimmjaw and Ulquirra stand and leave.

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In the sky above Nerima a dark tear appears and two beings step from it. One has pale white skin, green eyes and black hair, on his head is a broken white mask. His companion has blue hair and a large grin made even more grotesque by the broken mask clinging to his left jaw an cheek. Both are wearing white clothes and have holes through them.

"You feel that Ulquirra." The blue haired one points of to one side. "The shinigami must be over there."

"I agree." Ulquirra moves over closer to Grimmjaw. "Keep in mind we aren't here to do more than observe."

They move in the direction of Grimmjaw's pointed finger, right towards Furinkan High.

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In another part of Tokyo a small group is gathered in a back room of a shop when a cell phone goes off. A short dark haired girl picks it up and looks at the screen.

"Arrancar, possibly Espada."

"Where?"

The group waits a tense moment for the response, "A neighboring district. What are they doing there?"

A lazy looking man with a fan and green and white stripped hat peers over her shoulder to see which district.

"Hmm, Nerima..." He taps the fan on his chin before his eyes go wide and he drops the fan. Grabbing the cell phone he seems to double check the location. "Nerima!"

The man bolts from the room and those left behind stare after him blinking in confusion.

"Ok, what the hell was that about?"

"Does it really matter right now we should go take care of those arrancar."

They all nod in agreement before following after the one that left earlier.

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Kanna lounging in her seat as she did on the first day she was there, suddenly crashes to the floor as if pushed, a startled look on her face.

"Miss Shihoin. Get back into your seat, we are in the middle of class."

Ignoring the teacher Kanna gets to her feet and looks out the window. "What is this power..." Turning she bolts from the room. Ranma gets up and runs after her.

"Hey!"

Glaring Akane and Ukyo both follow their fiance out.

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Kanna had run out to the sports field taking up a guarded stance as she scans the sky. Ranma runs up behind her.

"What's wrong Kanna? I didn't hear one of those hollow things."

"This... It's stronger than a hollow, but it feels the same." Just then she stops scanning and focuses her burning gaze on one spot in front of her and about 20 feet off the ground.

Ranma follows her gaze up and spots Grimmjaw and Ulquirra.

Grimmjaw's grin widens as Ranma's attention is brought to him. "Hey, Ulquirra. Since they saw us can I see if they know anything." He brings a hand up and clenches it into a fist.

Seeming to think about it Ulquirra replies, sounding bored, "Go ahead Grimmjaw, but remember: we're only here to get information on the shinigamis' plans"

Having gotten the all the permission he needed Grimmjaw launches himself at Ranma, landing a punch before Ranma can even register the attack.

"Ranma!" Kanna runs over to stand between the downed Ranma and Grimmjaw. "Back off." She puts up her arms in a defensive stance just as Grimmjaw sends a kick at her head that sends her flying into a tree.

"Kanna" Ranma manages to sit up, angered by Grimmjaw's rough handling of girl. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to hit a girl." Ranma stands up and tries to punch Grimmjaw, but misses when Grimmjaw uses his speed to dodge.

"Heh, cute you think you can fight me." Grimmjaw grabs Ranma by the neck and lifts him up.

Ranma struggles to remove the tight fingers from his neck, gasping for breath. Off to the side Kanna coughs up a spattering of blood from her impact with the tree. Getting unsteadily to her feet she holds her hands out in front of her, "Number 31: Shot of Red Fire!" A ball of red energy is fired from Kanna's hands at Grimmjaw.

The arrancar easily deflects the attack with his free hand, then holding it out begins to form a ball of dark energy which he then fires at Kanna. Unable to dodge effectively from the cero blast Kanna stares in fear at her impending death.

Ranma can do nothing but watch as the attack explodes on contact with Kanna but sees Grimmjaw's grin lessen some and looks back toward the settling dust from the attack. As the wind blows away the remainder of the dust away Ranma sees a man standing in front of Kanna with a shikomizue held in guarding position. The man is wearing a bucket hat, black happi and tradition wooden sandals, a green shirt and pants completes the look.

"Mah, it's not very nice to try to cero blast an innocent young girl that's already down." Kanna stares up at the man in shock and he looks over his shoulder, being careful to keep his attention focused on the two arrancar to his front, "Are you alright?"

Kanna nods but before she can say anything the man is already turning fully back to the two arrancar.

"Grimmjaw, let the boy go. We're going."

Looking disappointed, Grimmjaw tosses Ranma towards the strange man and Kanna. He skids for a while before stopping and by the time he has stopped the arrancar are already closing their gateway to Hueco Muendo.

"Ranma, are you going to be ok?" Kanna has moved closer to Ranma, holding her ribs with an arm.

Ranma nods, "I'll be fine. It was mostly my pride that took a beating." He gives Kanna a concerned look.

"I'll be fine." At that moment the man that had saved her kneels beside her and begins to inspect her for injuries.

"Hey, thanks for the help. Uh who are you anyway?"

Kanna look exasperated at the man and brushes off his fussing, "Ranma this is my dad." The man sticks out his lower lip at the casual way she introduces him.

"Mah, is that anyway to introduce your heroic father after he rushes over to save you from the evil monster?"

She gives him a dry look that sends him into water-work tears.

"Hey! Mr. Hat-and-Clogs, what the hell is wrong with you running off like that so suddenly?" Running up to them are three people dressed in black kimono, the one in the lead has a huge butcher knife shaped sword slung over his shoulder and looks around as if expecting someone or something to be there. "What happened to the arrancar?"

"Ah, Ichigo. They ran off shortly after I showed up." 'Mr. Hat-and-Clogs' stands up to address the new arrivals.

"So what were the bastards after?" This was said by a man with a spiky red top knot.

The short black haired girl next to him elbows him harshly. "Urahara, are these two in need of help?"

Urahara tips up his hat and then looks down at the two still on the ground. Ranma shakes his head to say he is alright, Kanna tries to stand and falls back down with a sharp cry at the pain of her fall.

Looking down and to the side with a scowl, "I may have broken a few ribs when I hit that tree."

Before anyone can do anything else Urahara has already bent down to pick the girl up, "So where is the nearest place we can go to get you patched up?"

Kanna struggles weakly, the pain more than she can tough out, before pouting. "Ranma knows where a clinic is Dad. The doc there took care of me last night after the vasto lord roughed me up."

Ranma looks a bit confused but nods when Urahara looks at him to lead the way.

"Wait a minute!" Ichigo and the other two look in shock at Urahara, stopping him from leaving. "Did she just call you 'Dad'?"

"Hmm, yes. What else would a daughter call her father?" Urahara grins and then moves to follow Ranma again. "I need to get her to this doctor, you're welcome to follow."

The three stand behind, flabbergasted, for a moment before following after them.

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On the way to Tofu's clinic Kanna speaks quietly with her father.

"Let me guess, you and mom never told anyone in Soul Society about me." She looks ahead of them to avoid looking at him. "I can't believe you."

"You're mother and I wanted you to be safe and lead a normal life. I never thought that you would get dragged into this war Kanna."

She looks up at him, "So now what?"

Urahara stays silent for a long moment. "You may have to come stay with me, your friend too." He doesn't look happy to say that and Kanna looks away from him again.

"I see."

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The group arrives at Tofu's clinic and Ranma hurries in to get the doctor while the others wait in the waiting room.

"So you have a daughter that you didn't tell anyone about?"

Urahara turns to the short girl, "Mah. Well can you blame a father for not want his little girl to get caught up in everything that's happening?"

His answer is blank stares from everyone in the room.

"I always thought you and Yoruichi were together." The red head rubs his chin and looks to the ceiling. Then stops and looks Kanna over, "Wait she isn't..."

"Kanna I hear you have some broken ribs." Tofu comes into the waiting room followed by Ranma.

"Yeah."

Tofu notices the man holding Kanna and smiles. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you were she can be set down."

"Ah, yes, thank you." Urahara follows the doctor into the exam room, Ranma staying behind.

Putting his hands behind his head and taking a seat, Ranma looks up at the others in the room. "So. What's with the outfits?"

Ichigo and the red head look down at their clothes before Ichigo speaks. "It's just the uniform we have to wear."

"Uniform, for what?"

"Look we don't have to answer your questions kid." The red head crosses his arms and looks down his nose at Ranma.

"Now Renji, no need to be so mean." Urahara comes out from the exam room and walks over to the group. "After all He's caught up in this too." Urahara turns to Ranma. "So how attached are you to this place. It may be for the best if we take you back with us."

"Huh." Ranma sits up straighter in surprise. "What. You aren't going to leave Kanna here are you?" Ranma jumps up a fist held up in front of him. "The only thing she's wanted since you put her into foster care has been to be able to go back home, to you! She got herself kicked out of every other school in Tokyo so you would take her back!"

Urahara takes in the irate boy standing before him and allows his hat to fall down in front of his eyes, shading them. "I am well aware of what she has been up to. Moreover I do not plan to leave her behind." Ranma calms down and gets into a more relaxed position. "So, will you come with us?"

Ranma collapses into the chair behind him, thinking over the question. "I don't think I can."

"You're going to pass up an opportunity to get away from all the crazy people in your life." Everyone in the waiting room looks up and sees the bandaged up Kanna, a hand on her hip and staring at Ranma. "It's not like it would be forever Ranma, you'd come back as soon as this stupid war is over." Ranma looks at her with a slight glimmer of hope, "Think of it as a well needed vacation."

Ranma grins and stands up, "Fine I'll go." He turns to Tofu. "Hey doc, do you think you could keep this whole thing about me leaving to yourself?"

Tofu nods, "I think I can manage that."

Smirking Ranma turns towards the group, "When do we leave?"

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Sneaking into the Tendo's place that night Ranma looks around the room he has been sharing with his father since coming to Nerima. Ranma packs up his things and heads for the door to the room.

Coming out into the hall Ranma goes down a few doors and opens one before going in. Inside the room he pulls out a piece of paper and sets it down on the desk. with a glance down at the girl in the bed Ranma mouths a goodbye and leaves.

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Outside Kanna is waiting for him with her father. One last look back at the Tendo home, "They'll be safe once I leave right?"

Urahara nods, "Without someone to attract their attention they shouldn't come through here and if they don't know who you are attached to then they won't even bother anyone."

"Then let's go."

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The next morning Nabiki wakes up to a quiet house and checks her alarm clock, "That's weird." Sitting up she spots the letter on her desk and gets out of bed in order to open it. Reading the letter she nearly drops it from shock. Once she finishes it she shreds it in her shredder. "I hope you come back safe Ranma." Nabiki continues with her morning routine, getting ready for school before heading down to see what kind of damage Ranma left in his wake.

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Downstairs Akane is sitting at the breakfast table scowling at her rice, Genma is grumbling about his wayward son, and Kasumi is looking worriedly at their father.

"I thought you would have been tearing the district apart looking for him." Nabiki sits at the table as Kasumi set her breakfast in front of her.

Genma looks over at her, "How did you know Ranma was missing?"

Nabiki finishes the food in her mouth before answering. "Simple, its quiet and Ranma isn't at the table. He also left me a letter telling me he was leaving and telling me to keep anyone from trying to find him." Nabiki takes another bite.

"Why would the boy go and do that? He has an obligation to unite the schools."

Finishing her food, which further irritates the large martial artist, Nabiki sets down her chopsticks and then turns to Genma. "He left to keep us safe. Apparently he's gotten caught up in something he can't handle, so he left to deal with it on his own terms. He said he'd be back once it's all over. And before you ask, he didn't say where he was going and I will not try to find him." Nabiki stands and heads for the door. "I gotta get to school."

The rest of the family sits around and stares at the door for a while before anyone speaks. "So how much do you think he paid her to do that?"

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That same morning Ranma is in the underground training area beneath Urahara's shop going through a kata. Kanna walks up to him, but stops a respectful distance from him, waiting for him to finish. Once he's done he turns to her.

"Ready for school?"

"Yeah." She tosses him a towel, "Are you really feeling a hundred percent?"

"Hmm." Kanna does a bit of a twirl in her Karakura High uniform, worn in the same way as the Furinkan uniform but with the jacket worn open over it, "I'm fine, that Orihime girl can work miracles." She looks back to Ranma and sees him trying to hide a faint blush.

"Uh, right. We should get going. Don't want to be late for the first day of school." He quickly makes his way to the ladder and out of the training area.

Kanna watches him go, confused by his behavior, before following him up the ladder.

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Alright this may not be as long as the first chapter but I fell that I should start the next arc of this story with a new chapter. So was anyone surprised at who Kanna's dad was? And have you figured out her mom? Let me know in a review.

One other thing before I end: Ranma or Ichigo? I do have plans to have Ichigo begin to fall for Kanna and as you saw at the end there Ranma is already starting to. So which one should have the guts to step in and steal her heart. I did warn you this was a romance, didn't I?


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews so far.

Ranma: 6

Ichigo: 3

I think this may be biased though because of its placement in the Ranma category, voting isn't done yet, Until the couple is established the voting will remain open. Oh well, on to the story.

Additional Note:

While typing this chapter I received a few reviews that have me looking over the first two chapters. The first issue is that someone mentioned that vasto lords do not appear in the human world, I apologize for my mistake. I had mistaken the hollow that appeared after Karin's soccer game for a vasto lord, with some help from a source I now can't remember, it may have been Wikipedia. Aside from that I will be going back through the previous chapters and downsizing the vasto lords to just powerful hollows.

The second thing I would like to address, mostly because it's driving me nuts to hear it, is the comments that Kanna is a 'Mary Sue' character. She is a smart, tough girl who is very independent, but she is not a 'do it all' type of character. She got her ass handed to her by Grimmjaw and barely phased him with her kido attack. Given who her dad is she has to have some knowledge of hollows under her belt, if only to handle the ones that would always be in her life.

And yes, the story is focusing on Kanna.

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In Las Noches Ulquirra makes his report of his and Grimmjaw's excursion into the human world.

"The girl seemed to recognize what we were and was also able to use kido. She may have been the one taking out the vasto lords that appeared in that area. Other than her and the boy there were no signs of anyone else in the area that would pose a threat."

"And the reason for returning without having taken care of these loose ends?"

"Kisuke Urahara came and interferred, we had not been instructed to do more than reconnoissance and so left."

The man at the head of the table looks thoughtful, "Find that girl and find out what her connection is to the shinigami. More specifically see if you can find out why Kisuke Urahara would be the first to interfere, he usually holds back and restrains from fighting."

Ulquirra bows and turns to carry out his mission.

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"Shihoin Kanna."

"Uh, Saotome Ranma."

Kanna and Ranma stand before their new class in Karakura High, Kanna has her bag slung over her shoulder and stands in a casual stance. Ranma stands before the class in his classic apology stance, hand behind his head and looking sheepish.

"Please take your seats. I hope that you all will be helpful to our new students and show them around the school."

They take their seats and the teacher begins the class. Kanna rests her chin in her hand and glances out the window. She finally had what she'd been working towards for the last several years. Ever since entering into middle school and being placed into foster care by her own parents she had been doing everything to be taken back in by them. So now she was back, living with her father. Why then, did it feel so hollow living there. She turns and looks over at Ichigo. Urahara had insisted that he watch over his precious 'little girl'. So now she had a a bodyguard and it was the last thing she wanted. Especially since it seemed that he was more than happy to leave Ranma alone and bodyguard free. The other thing that really had her steamed was that while Ranma was getting training, she was told flat out that she was not to fight any arrancar for any reason. As for training, forget it. Urahara had threatened anyone that even thought of training her with things she couldn't even describe. So she was banned from training.

Looking out the window again, she contemplates her situation. He never said she couldn't do anything to help. She just wasn't allowed to fight. Even so she really wanted to help by fighting.

Kanna spent the rest of the day trying to find a loophole to her father's restrictions.

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Kanna rushed through the shop and back into her room as soon as she got home. She had figured out how to get what she wanted and she wasn't going to waste any time.

Ranma and Ichigo followed her in more slowly, both looking confused by how Kanna rushed home. Going into the back room where meetings are generally held, they sit down and look over at Urahara.

Urahara had been lounging peacefully in the back room when he had seen Kanna race past without even a hello, by the time Ranma and Ichigo had entered he was still trying to maintain a calm, cool demeanor. He redirects his attention to the boys once they get themselves settled. "Did something happen at school?"

Ranma and Ichigo look at each other before Ichigo answers, "She's been acting weird since about an hour ago."

"I know she's a girl but maybe you should have let her train with us." Ranma looks to the door, "She's not exactly incapable as it is."

Urahara looks at Ranma with a small bit of surprise, "I know, but she's my little girl. I just want her to be safe." The tenderness in his voice surprises Ichigo more than Ranma, but neither doubts the usually flippant older man.

"So what do you think she's up to?"

Urahara crashes to the floor in a facefault at Ichigo's question. "Why do you think she's up to something?" Urahara looks at Ichigo from just over the edge of the table between them.

"She's your daughter. You don't listen to authority, why would she?"

"Mah, you have a point."

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In her room, Kanna appears to be doing homework. Closer inspection shows that the book she is going over isn't a schoolbook. She flips the page and jots down a few notes in a notebook placed beside her. "This is harder than I thought." Flipping a few more pages and jotting down more notes, Kanna continues to mumble to herself.

After a few more minutes she sets the book aside with a frustrated sigh, "The answer isn't in here." She lays back on the floor and stares at the ceiling. "Why is there no information around here on how to summon a zanpakutou?" She rolls over onto her side, "Well that doesn't involve severing one's soul chain."

"There has to be a way." She rolls back onto her back and holds her hand up towards the ceiling, fingers spread.

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The next morning Ichigo shows up at Urahara's to walk Kanna to school with Ranma. The two teens come out of Urahara's shop and Ichigo raises his hand in greeting, "Morning."

"Morning." Ranma raises his hand in response and then looks at Kanna who remains quiet.

Kanna is standing beside him, her eyes half closed and looking as if she was up half the night.

"You going to be ok?" Ranma looks at her with concern.

"Hmm. Uh, yeah. Just had a long night." Ranma and Ichigo look at eachother and shrug.

"Alright, if you say so."

The three begin on their way to school, Kanna hanging to the rear. "I shouldn't have stayed up all night." Lightly smacking her cheeks to wake herself up. Having fallen slightly behind due to her actions she jogs to catch up to the boys.

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While Ranma, Ichigo and Kanna are in school four figures dressed in black kimono appear outside of Urahara's shop. One is a short white haired boy with a sword slung across his back with a green sash. Beside him is a busty woman, nearly bursting out of her top, with long, wavy red hair. On his other side is a bald man with delicate eyebrows and red wedges coming off the outside corners of his eyes. Standing next to the bald man is another man with short black hair, around his neck and forearms is ribbed orange fabric, he also has red and yellow feathers coming off of his right eyelash and eyebrow.

They walk into Urahara's and head for the back room where Urahara is lounging.

"Ah, Hitsugaya-taicho. Welcome back to the living world. Are you in need of someplace to stay while you are here?"

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That day at school Kanna seemed lost in thought and having seen how she had been acting yesterday, this disconnected behavior set both Ichigo and Ranma on edge. So at lunch when Kanna set next to Ichigo and quietly asked him, "How did you get your zanpakutou?" He was a little weary to answer her, but saw no reason not to.

"Well, the first time Rukia just stabbed me and loaned me her power." Ichigo stops and scratches his head thinking for a moment, "But I guess I didn't really get my zanpakutou then cause I never learned his name until my training with Urahara. I had my chain of fate cut and then he threw me into a hole where I was almost turned into a hollow."

Kanna listens raptly to Ichigo and prompts him to continue, "How did you avoid becoming a hollow?"

"Hmm." Ichigo moves his gaze from the sky to the girl beside him, "Well, I went into my inner world and found it while the place was crumbling around me. But I wouldn't have known what to do if Zangetsu hadn't told me I needed to find him."

Kanna smiles and stands up, "Thanks Ichigo."

"Huh?" Ichigo looks at her confused for a moment.

"Well, I think Im going to go home now, so no need to worry about me." She runs off waving, "Bye."

"Hey! Wait we still have one more class today." He gets up to follow her when he realizes something. "Kanna! What are you planning?" He hurriedly follows after her just as Ranma is coming up onto the roof.

"Hey, Ichigo, is something wrong?" Ranma calls after Ichigo as he rushes down the stairs.

"Kanna's up to something?"

Brow creasing in concern Ranma watches Ichigo disappear down the stairs before following after him, himself.

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Kanna meanwhile has run straight home to try out her idea on how to gain her zanpakutou so that her father wouldn't be able to complain. About to open the door to the shop, she pauses. She realized at that moment that even if she was right and she would be able to get her zanpakutou, her father would notice and probably try to stop her. Stepping away from the door she turns to head back the way she came when she sees Ichigo, followed by Ranma, running toward her and the shop.

"Uh..." Bolting around the side of the shop Kanna weaves her way through the narrow alleys that wind among the tall buildings that surround Urahara-ha. She continues weaving, hoping to loose the two in the maze-like alleys, until she comes out across the street from a forested park. Grinning she runs into it and quickly climbs up a tree several dozen feet within the park. Flattening herself into a crook of the main trunk and a large branch she sits quietly and waits to see if either of the boys has followed her this far.

Several minutes pass and she breaths a sigh of relief when neither has seemed to follow her. "Guess I lost them." Smiling she relaxes in the tree and lets herself enjoy the afternoon sun peppering through the leafs.

"Let's see, Ichigo said that he went into his inner world." She looks up to the sky, "Meditation?" Closing her eyes she breaths deeply, "It wouldn't hurt to try." Relaxing her body and emptying her mind she steadies her breathing and begins to meditate.

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Ichigo and Ranma, in the meantime, had tried to follow Kanna through the winding tight alleys but gave up when they realized she had given them the slip.

"Why did she run like that? It's not like we're the bad guys or anything." Ranma looked to Ichigo for answers.

Ichigo runs his hand through his hair and sighs, "Hell if I know. But we should probably tell Urahara before anything can happen to her"

Ranma nods, agreeing. "What made you think she was up to something anyway?"

The two were already heading back to Urahara-ha. Ichigo scratches his head, "She asked about how I got my zanpakutou and ran off right after I told her."

"Didn't you need to become a shinigami to get that thing. How could she be up to something if she can't become a shinigami?"

Ichigo shrugs as they reach the door of the shop. "Not a clue but I still think she's up to something, why else run off like that?" Opening the door they step in and head for the back room. "Hey, Urahara, we got a problem." Ichigo blinks upon seeing who is in the room with Urahara. "Toushiro?"

The white haired shinigami's eyebrow twitches at the familarity with which Ichigo speaks, "That's Hitsugaya-taichou to you."

Ranma looks around Ichigo to the short captain curiously before Urahara prompt Ichigo to continue with what had brought them there. "A problem Ichigo?"

"Uh yeah, Kanna ran off and we lost her behind the shop. She asked me about Zangetsu."

Urahara blinks, "What did she ask you about that for?"

"She wanted to know how I got it."

"We should go find her, right?" It was Ranma that spoke the question on both of the boys' minds.

Urahara's eyes had widened when he heard about what Kanna had been asking about when Ranma asked his question. Appearing to maintain his joviality, though his eye seemed to twitch slightly, Urahara nods, "Yes. Hitsugaya-taichou I don't suppose you and your group would help them. It would seem the girl is a tad rebellious right now."

Sighing the captain nods, "Who is this girl anyway?"

After a long moment with no answer forthcoming Ichigo speaks up, "Kanna is Urahara's daughter. He'd been trying to keep her out the fighting but she managed to get herself involved."

"Ur, Urahara's daughter!"

At a reluctant nod from Urahara, Hitsugaya agrees and the three set out to first gather the other shinigami and then search for the wayward girl.

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While Urahara and the shinigami prepare to search for her so to does Ulquirra. Looking for the answers as to her strange knowledge of kido and her connection to Urahara.

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Kanna had managed to enter into a deep meditation and was looking within herself for the inner world that Ichigo had mentioned. At first all was dark, after several more moments of searching the dark space faint stars seem to twinkle into existence. Around her began to form into a plain with tall grasses over which rose a pale full moon and a tall, snow capped mountain. A crisp autumn breeze blew the sent of wild flowers toward her. Kanna looks about her in wonder, "Wow."

"It is beautiful, isn't it?"

Kanna turns around in alarm and spots a beautiful woman dressed in several layers of fine silk robes, each beautifully colored and embroidered. The woman has long straight black hair and fair skin "Who..."

The woman shakes her head, interrupting Kanna's question. "You can not hear my name, not yet anyway." Smiling gently at her the woman continues. "You sought me out much earlier than I would have thought you to. I must admit to being surprised."

"Uh, are you my," She pauses, "Are you my zanpakutou?" The woman nods and Kanna smiles in relief. "So it worked."

"It worked to establish contact with me. However it is not time for you to wield me." Kanna looked about to protest but the woman held up her hand. "You have not found me yet." She swung out her arms to take in the expansive field about them. "It will take you several journeys here in order to find my form so that you may wield me."

Looking disappointed, Kanna slumps slightly, "Ichigo made it sound so easy. I should have known it wouldn't be as easy as just getting here."

"Nothing is ever so easy."

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Ulquirra senses a rising spiritual pressure in a park not far from him. slightly recognizing the energy as that of the girl that he was investigating, he heads towards it.

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Further away the shinigami are searching for the girl and having no luck, until all but Ichigo and Ranma stop and look in the direction of the park a few blocks away.

"What is it?" Ranma looks around at the shinigami questioningly.

"There seems to be a lot of spiritual pressure building in that direction." Hitsugaya points in the direction of the park. He then quickly furrows his brow, "Something is moving towards it."

"Is it one of the arrancar?" Ichigo and Ranma begin to look stressed.

"It could be, we should hurry."

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This chapter took longer to write than the other two. Sorry about that. I hope this chapter was worth the wait though. Please leave a review and be sure to vote for Ranma or Ichigo. I may have Kanna's mom show up in the next chapter so be prepared.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm having fun writing this fic and I hope everyone is enjoying reading it.

Score so far:

Ranma: 8

Ichigo: 4

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Still within her inner world, Kanna and the woman look up as if sensing something.

"You should go, it seems you have attracted some attention."

"Ah, but I haven't even had a chance to look." Kanna begins to protest as the world melts around her and she is dragged back into the real world where she opens her eyes to be greeted by a face to face with Ulquirra. She begins to open her mouth to scream but Ulquiorra moves quickly and puts a hand around her throat, choking off any sound that may have escaped.

"You shall not scream, you will answer me. Who are you?" Ulquiorra lets up on his grip on her throat enough that she can answer.

"Why would I tell you that?" She makes an attempt to spit in his face, but it only causes him to tighten his grip.

"You're friends will not get here in time to save you. You had best cooperate if you wish to live."

"G Go to hell."

Noticing that the shinigami are getting closer Ulquiorra begins to move, taking the girl with him.

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"They're moving."

Ranma looks at the others and curses. He knew he was slowing them down. "Why don't you just leave me behind?"

Ichigo looks back at Ranma and realizes he's right. Gaining a serious look he grabs his zanpakutou. As it begins to unwrap, "Bankai!" Transforming into bankai, Ichigo puts on burst of speed, leaving the others behind.

Scowling Hitsugaya stares after Ichigo, "He should know better by now." Looking to Ranma and then his vice captain, "Matsumoto stay with Ranma and catch up with us. Everyone else we're catching up to Ichigo."

Matsumoto and Ranma watch as the rest rush ahead to intercept the possible arrancar.

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Kanna scrabbles at the hand around her neck as Ulquiorra carries her off, trying to put space between them and their pursuers. Cursing her stupidity at leaving herself open as she had she hopes in vain for some sort of miracle. Then she feels Ulquiorra stop and tighten his grip on her neck, almost crushing her windpipe. Cracking open an eye she sees standing before her and her captor, Ichigo with his zanpakutou in bankai.

"Let her go Ulquiorra."

Ulquiorra looks Ichigo over but his expression remains the same, bored and uninterested. Not even bothering to draw his sword, he holds out his hand and begins to form a cero.

Before Ulquiorra can release the attack though, Ichigo has vanished from in front of him and is standing behind him holding Kanna, a hollow mask quickly evaporating from his face. Kanna gasps for air as soon as she realizes she is no longer being choked and looks up at her savior to see the last vestals of the mask disappearing. Shock colors her face before Ichigo jumps down to ground level and sets her down. Raising his sword between them and the espada he waits to see what Ulquiorra is going to do.

Looking ready to attack Ulquiorra dissipates the cero when he sees the other shinigami arriving. The odds no longer in his favor, he makes a quick retreat before anyone can stop him.

As soon as the threat is gone Ichigo turns on Kanna, "What the hell were you thinking" Just as the other shinigami run up.

Caught off guard by Ichigo's verbal attack, Kanna quickly replaces her shock with anger and pokes Ichigo in the chest harshly, "What do you mean, 'What was I thinking?' If you're just going to be an ass about it you shouldn't have rescued me." The two stand off, glaring at each other before Ichigo releases his bankai and walks off in the direction of Urahara's.

"Maybe Urahara should send you to stay with your mom if all you're going to do is cause trouble."

Openly angry Kanna grabs a rock off the ground quickly and throws it at Ichigo's retreating head. "Don't act like you know me!" The rock hits him on the back of the head and he turns, glaring, but says nothing more.

At this point Ranma and Matsumoto arrive to see Ichigo leaving with Kanna standing there a furious volcano about to erupt.

"Did we miss something?"

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Ichigo enters Urahara-ha and heads straight for the training space beneath the shop. Tessai, minding the shop, notices his unusually angry scowl and chooses to say nothing. A few minutes later the door slams open and Kanna stomps in, being sure to slam the door to the training space, almost breaking it, before angrily making her way to her room. Ranma and the shinigami stand just inside the door, mostly looking confused.

Attracted by the racket being made, Urahara looks out into the shop area to see who or what could have upset his little girl. "Mm, where is Ichigo?"

"Kurosaki-san went is training downstairs. He seemed angry Boss." Urahara looks to Tessai before looking questioningly at the others.

"He and the girl had a fight after he saved her from Ulquiorra." Hitsugaya crosses his arms looking like he was stating the obvious.

Matsumoto places her hand under her chin and looks thoughtful for a moment, "It seemed to have escalated after Ichigo mentioned her mother."

Ranma looks at the buxom blonde curiously, "How did you hear him mention her mother?"

"Ichigo was shouting it." Still looking thoughtful, "Who is her mother? It might be safer if she did go and stay with her."

Urahara taps his fan on his chin and flashes it open before answering. "I would have thought that would be obvious." Not looking like he is going to be anymore forthcoming with an answer, Ranma sighs.

"You never give straight answers do you." Rubbing his head Ranma heads for the back of the shop and passes Urahara, "You're a better dad than my pops, but you're probably going to lose her if you don't lighten up some." He heads into the back and disappears in the same direction as Kanna.

The rest just stare after him in surprise. "I find it hard to believe that anyone could be a worse father than you, Urahara."

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Ranma had come to stand outside of Kanna's room and paused a moment before knocking. "Kanna, would you like to talk?" Sighing when he gets no immediate response he is about to try again when the door slides open and he sees Kanna standing there. Ranma is surprised to see the anger gone from face, a deep sadness seems to have replaced it. She turns from the door and sits down on her futon. Not sure what to do anymore, Ranma hesitates before stepping in and closing the door behind him. Walking over to Kanna he sits beside her and waits to see if she will say anything.

"I hate being useless in this war." She draws her knees up to her chin and stares into the emptiness of her room. "It's not fair, Dad's even started training you since we got here. But all I get is told that I can't fight."

Ranma watches her while she talks and for once in his life he realizes that not all girls want to be protected, well at least not all the time. "Is that why you were asking Ichigo about how he got his sword?"

She nods, "Yeah. I thought if I could get a zanpakutou, he'd at least have to train me." She throws up her arms in frustration, "A lot of good that did. I was so close, I saw her, but that stupid arrancar thing had to show up and... and it all just went wrong." Letting herself fall back onto the futon she stares at the ceiling as Ranma stares at her.

Confused, Ranma presses her for details about her experiment. "What do you mean you saw 'her'?"

Kanna props herself up on her elbows and looks at Ranma, "I guess no one told you what a zanpakutou is." At Ranma's nod she continues. "A zanpakutou is a part of its wielder. A separate being but more like a reflection of the person it serves."

"So how did you figure out how to get yours?"

"I meditated. I guess it may have taken a while, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. Ichigo gave me the idea when he said he found his in an inner world." Kanna lets herself lay back down with a frown. "Stupid jerk."

"What did he say to make you so mad at him?"

Kanna scowls at the memory but takes a breath to calm herself before she answers, "He mentioned my mom." She rolls onto her side to look away from Ranma, "She left me. She comes and goes but never stays long. We never had any kind of mother-daughter relationship." Ranma watches her, understanding slightly what she was going through. He reaches over and lightly rests his hand on her shoulder. She lifts her head and looks over her shoulder at him, "Thanks Ranma. I don't see why all those girls back in Nerima are always being so hard on you. You're a great friend."

"I think you may be the first person to ever think that and not be trying to marry me."

They share a laugh.

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In the week that Ranma had been gone the girls in Nerima had decided to call a truce and were currently meeting in the dinning room of the Nekohaten. Even Akane had come, claiming that her father and Genma insisted she find the wayward martial artist.

"So what do we know?"

"Know that when Airen went away so did weird mean girl."

"She mentioned those weird monsters that only she and Ranma could see."

"Nabiki is the only one that has any idea where he went and she isn't talking."

"So what we do?"

"We find that girl and she leads us to Ranma."

The girls sit in silence before Ukyo speaks up. "So where can we find her?"

Silence again.

"I bet if we could find those monsters we could find her."

"How we find monsters we no can see?"

They sit around the table pondering this question when Cologne pogoes into the dining room. "What are you girls up to?"

"We were trying to figure out how to find Ranma."

"Great-grandmother, you know where we find monsters, yes?"

Cologne looks at her granddaughter curiously before turning to the others for an explanation.

"We think Ranma ran off with a girl that can see these weird monsters. She said normal people can't see them and that they're souls or something weird like that."

"Hmm. And Ranma could see these monsters?"

"Yeah."

Cologne sits in thought for a moment. "I may have heard of such monsters."

The three girls lean forward eagerly, "Do you know where we could find some?"

Cologne looks at the girls with concern, "No I do not, and as much as I feel you should not be seeking them out, I do know someone that might help you find them though."

"Who Great-grandmother?"

"An old friend of mine. I believe he runs a shop in Karakura now."

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The next day Kanna and Ranma leave for school before Ichigo even showed up to walk with them.

Even though he was still mad at her he knew he couldn't just leave her open to attack. Walking up to the door he sees three girls and an old woman balanced atop a stick standing in front of the shop.

"Are you sure this guy can help us." A girl with long brown hair tied back in a tail and a large spatula slung across her back questions the old woman.

"I'm certain."

"Yo. Is there something I can help you with?" Ichigo looks the group over, trying to figure out who they were and if they may be trouble.

"Perhaps. Do you know a man by the name of Urahara?" The old woman asks politely, but the way she looks at him makes him feel on edge.

"Yeah, I'll go get him for you." Ichigo walks past them and enters the shop. He heads straight for the back. "Hey, Urahara. There's some old woman out her asking for you." He looks around for a moment before cursing. "That little... She left without me." Angry again he storms out of the shop and past the group waiting outside as Urahara steps out of the back of the shop and heads for the visitors.

"Ah, how may I help you lovely ladies?"

The girls watch Ichigo stomp off as Cologne addresses Urahara. "My my, I had expected you to change just a little since we last met."

Urahara looks at her carefully for a moment before smiling, "Ah Koh Lon-chan. It's been too long. What brings you to my door? I thought you would be in China." That last comment leads to a frown from the jovial man.

"My granddaughter and her friends need your help in tracking down a young man."

"Oh." Urahara raises an eyebrow at the girls as he looks them over.

"Some new hussy at our school ran off with him."

"She must have done something to my dear Ranchan to trick him into going with her."

"Girl is obstacle now. Obstacles for killing."

Looking slightly nervously at the three angry girls Urahara latches onto the name one of them used. "Ranchan?"

"It's her nickname for him. His full name is Ranma Saotome. He is a well known martial artist in the Nerima district." Cologne looks at Urahara and sees him slightly taken aback. "Do you know how we may find him?"

Letting his hat shade his eyes more than usual, Urahara seems to think for a moment before looking up with a smile, "Not a clue as to how you may find him. You should probably try looking in some other district. I'm sure he'll turn up eventually."

Pogoing over to him and hitting him solidly on the head with her stick Cologne looks at him sternly, "This is not time to be joking around." Composing herself as Urahara squats and rubs his head looking like a whipped puppy. "The girls told me that this girl that Son-in-Law has run off with could see those monsters you told me about and we believe that finding more of them will lead us to both her and the boy."

Still squatting Urahara looks up at the three girls and then at Cologne. "So you would endanger these girls just to recruit Ranma into your tribe." Urahara stands up and looks grimly at Cologne before turning to enter the shop. "I will not help you with this Koh Lon-chan. Go back to Nerima and wait for Ranma to return."

Just as he reaches the door he hears the sound of the giant spatula and a sword being drawn and moves quickly aside as the two armed girls attack. They miss and end up destroying the door to the shop instead.

"Where Airen?"

"You're with that girl aren't you? What have you done to my Ranchan?"

They make another lunge at him, this time he surprises them by drawing his sword from within his cane, blocking both attacks. The fighting had attracted the attention of those inside the shop and Renji, Hitsugaya, Tessai, Jinta and Ururu are now standing in the ruined door taking in the two girls faced off against Urahara.

"Didn't his letter tell you that he had gotten caught up in something and that he had left to protect you all?"

"Lazy-man liar. Airen know Shampoo strong amazon warrior. No need protecting."

Without warning Urahara lets loose a crimson attack from the blade of his changed sword. The attack leaves a deep cut in the pavement between the two attacking girls. "I do not doubt that you are a proud and strong warrior. But the monsters that are seeking Ranma at this time are much stronger than Ranma himself. If you were to try to take one on you would be crushed." Urahara's look has a slight feel of malice to it as he attempts to drive home his point.

The two girls take a nervous step back at Urahara's stare and look over to Cologne. "I told you that you shouldn't try to seek out these monsters. other than that however we will collect Son-in-Law and take him with us." Cologne begins to pogo away, "Let's go girls. He's probably at the local school." The girls follow Cologne, leaving Urahara-ha and its occupants behind.

Urahara rubs his head and looks at the crowd standing in the broken door. "It seems that they are quite persistent."

Renji looks at Urahara and then in the direction the girls and old woman left in. "Shouldn't we stop them or something."

"Mm." Urahara turns to Renji and grins. "Well you're more than welcome to but you may want to be aware that at least one of those girls will take any defeat as a proposal for marriage."

"Urk."

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At school it is the free period and Ranma, Kanna and Ichigo's friends are hanging out by the windows in the back of the room. Ichigo is standing off to the side with a scowl on his face, not speaking with or looking at Kanna. They're all chatting about nothing in particular. Ranma is leaning against the window sill and is taken by surprise when the window beside him is smashed and two girls appear crouched in the now vacant space. Ranma stares with slight horror as the girls step into the classroom and reveal themselves to be a girl in a Chinese outfit and bluish purple hair, holding a sword. The other girl is armed with spatulas and is dressed as a chef with brown hair.

"Shampoo! Ukyo!"

The girls step closer to him. "Why Airen leave?"

"Yeah Ranchan, how could you let that girl take you away from us?"

Just then the door slams open and another girl with short blue/black is standing there huffing angrily, "Ranma!"

All three girls move their eyes from Ranma to Kanna and she steps back nervously. "Ah..."

The two girls with weapons launch their attacks and Kanna is hard pressed to dodge in the confined, crowded classroom.

"Hey!" They back her against the window, while Akane keeps Ranma busy by trying to hit him with her mallet.

"Nothing personal Sugar. But you're in the way." Ukyo throws some of her smaller spatulas, Kanna dogdes most by ducking and they shatter the window above her.

Sliced in several places by the falling glass Kanna manages to get back to her feet in time for Shampoo's attack, "Obstacles are for killing." Shampoo strikes with her sword and the only place Kanna can dodge to is behind her, out the broken window.

When Shampoo said that she intended to kill, the others in the room began to move to intervene, but they acted too late. Kanna had leaned out the window to avoid the sword. Shape pieces of glass cut into her hands, causing her grip to slip as she bleeds. Off balance due to the way she dodged Kanna begins to fall from the window as everyone seems to be watching this happen in slow motion. Just as she tips completely out the window she reaches a hand out to grab something, something that isn't there.

It feels like a dream as Kanna falls from the second floor window, for a moment she feels like she is floating. Then she is laying on her back looking at a star speckled sky.

"You seem to be in a bit of trouble."

Kanna sits up and sees the traditionally dressed woman standing before her. "How?"

"I called you here." She smiles, "I wasn't expecting to see you back here for a long while but I suppose it can't be helped." Kanna has gotten to her feet and looks around, the field in which they stood, seemed slightly less picturesque and more like a tattered tapestry. "Something seems... Wrong here."

"This place is a reflection of you and seeing as you are falling from a window, it is reflecting that." The woman turns and begins walking toward a shallow pool that Kanna just now is noticing. "Follow me."

Kanna follows the woman to the pool and they stop beside it. Looking into the pool Kanna sees a perfect reflection of the full moon.

"Step into the pool please. It is time that you found me."

Surprised Kanna hesitates and looks at the woman but when the woman says nothing more Kanna steps into the pool. It reaches her knees and isn't hot nor cold. She notices that as she steps in the reflection is not disturbed by any ripples. Curious about this she steps further into the pool, just as she seems to reach the moon's reflection the bottom of the pool seems to vanish and she feels herself sink into the tepid waters. At first she gasps for breath but soon realizes that, though submerged, she has no trouble breathing. Suspended, she looks around and sees stars all around her and beneath her is the silvery full moon.

Floating down to the moon as though it were the ground. Realizing that she isn't just on a disk but what appears to be the actual moon, she looks around in awe. A ways off she sees a large traditional estate and walks towards it. It seems to take forever and no time at all to reach the estate and at first Kanna isn't sure if she should proceed. Taking one last look around her, and not sure how much more time she has in this timeless place, she steps up onto the veranda of the home and begins to look around it. It doesn't take long for her to find a large room with a beautiful Kimono hanging on display. In front of the kimono is a sword stand with a sword on it. The sword is sheathed in a black sheath that seems to sparkle with starlight. The oval guard is ivory in color and glows like the full moon. The grip was made of black and pink fabric that was woven together, the black predominantly on top. From the base of the grip the pink fabric flows away in an ethereal curtain and pools on the floor.

Slowly walking up to the sword she gently picks it up. Shuffling behind her causes her to turn and she sees the traditional woman is standing in the doorway smiling. "You have found me." Light overtakes Kanna's vision and she feels herself falling again.

"I reject!"

She feels something form and then give beneath her, slowing her fall to a gentle stop. Blinking her eyes she finds herself looking up to the window of her classroom. Ranma, Ichigo, Orihime and Rukia leaning out the open windows with concern all over their faces. Orihime is the first to show relief when she realizes she was fast enough to catch her falling friend.

Ranma is the next to change his expression and he jumps from the window to land beside her before anyone else can move. "Are you alright Kanna?" He helps her stand up and notices the sword she is holding. He is about to say something when, with a shout, Shampoo follows Ranma's example and jumps out the window, her sword held to strike Kanna.

Kanna has enough time to bring the sheathed sword up between her and the descending Amazon, deflecting the blow but still being knocked back to the ground. When Shampoo goes to make a second strike her attack is blocked by Orihime's fairies. Orihime and the others from the classroom that count among Kanna's friends have made their way down to the schoolyard where Shampoo, joined by Ukyo, are standing off against Ranma and Kanna. Akane stands to the back of the group, not sure if she wants to be a part of this anymore, she hadn't been in this to really hurt anyone, she just wanted Ranma back.

"Is that a zanpakutou?"

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Ok I need to end it at some point. I forgot to mention it when she first entered her inner world but if you do a google image search for 'Musashi Plain" you should find an image of what Kanna's inner world looks like. Please leave a review and continue to vote for either Ranma or Ichigo.


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